U.S. Senate Falls Short in Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood

by Eric Galatas/TNS

AUSTIN, Texas – A move in the U.S. Senate to cut more than $500 million in federal funding from Planned Parenthood fell short last Monday. But top Republican leaders including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas say they’ll eventually get the job done.

Texas stripped state funding for Planned Parenthood two years ago, and offers a window into what could happen nationally if GOP leaders succeed. Stacey Pogue, senior policy analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, said the cuts led to a loss of services and declining enrollment in the Texas Women’s Health Care Program.

“Women lost access to their well-woman exam, so this is the annual checkup where you go and get your cervical cancer screening, your breast-cancer screening,” she said. “You might get checked for diabetes or depression; and you also get contraception, so that you can prevent unintended pregnancies.”

The recent moves against the family-planning organization come after the release of several videos made by an anti-abortion group that purport to show Planned Parenthood representatives discussing the process of fetal-tissue donation for research. The latest, released Tuesday, was recorded at a Planned Parenthood facility in Houston.

Pogue argued that fully funding family-planning services at the state level and in Congress would lead to healthier mothers, healthier babies and fewer abortions. She said it also would save money in the long term.

“In Texas, we cut our family-planning programs by two-thirds, slashed more than $70 million from the budget,” she said, “which actually ended up costing our Medicaid program more than $130 million in unplanned pregnancies.”

Before the cuts to Planned Parenthood in Texas, Pogue said, the organization served more than 40 percent of the state’s caseloads. She said other family-planning providers in the state still don’t have the capacity to serve all Texans who need care.